I know this may sound fluffy to most of you, but there are many things in this life that are poorly represented, hardly understood, and rarely done at all. One of those things is Shadow Magic. Now I know what you may be thinking, but don't worry, I never go full retard, :P . When you hear shadow magic, what do you think? Decay, death, cold, parlyzed, doomed, hidden, untouchable? Something like that, right? Well actual "shadow magic" or "shade", is much more complex than that of just plain dark reference. This craft actually begins pretty far off of anything necromantic. This post will begin to explain my understanding of the shade.
Everything that is visible reflects light, because of this it also casts a shadow. This shadow is mutable, meaning it can change size(and sometimes shape) depending on the light source, direction, ect. even in enveloping light, a shadow is cast in a puddle of sorts just beyond the surface of the object, neutralized, but there.. We also know it is common for a shadow to assume an identical size/shape to the object it is refracted from. Lets skip ahead for a bit..
Shade is a craft that deals with ethereal copies of thought-forms, as well as the energies used to sustain them. It also deals indirectly with the source of the thought-form( if you are lucky) And that is where the necromancy comes in, if at all. Thought forms can be powerful things. So strong, in fact, that unfinished business tends to help them stick around after the person passes. This is what I call a "shade". Ironically, it is also what the video games call a shade. The shade is not a spirit, or entity, but a thought-form made in reference to said spirit. I killed a spider using my staff, then later when I went to draw some energy from the staff, the impression, or "shade" of the spider was pulled out over the energy. This was a fairly new experience for me, but it made sense as I said a prayer and thank you during it's demise as I smushed it with the staff. There are more details that were done instinctively during and after this instance, but they will be saved for a later post. This is the first part of this post. I will add the second, ( ahd third parts) after due comments. :D Blessed, we.
A thought form is just that. "Thoughts are things" - Prentice Mulford . That phrase is not only the title of a book, but it is also a true statement. Every "thing" that runs through your mind, is, in fact a thing. Not being able to touch it doesn't make it not real. And even thinking deeper reveals the incapacity for us to not be able to touch(upon) something. The moment you think of something, your "mind" ( I use the term loosely), is moving energies about that thing. This is also why it is usually recommended to cleanse an area before a ritual/rite, to get rid of all the negative or otherwise unwanted/incompatable energies in the area... And why we should keep up on our basics, of gounding and shielding.. And why am I still talking?
Thought forms are our thoughts, but they are also our feelings. This must be understood before moving forward... Okay, now back to that necromantic stuff I mentioned earlier. My fingers trip over eachother as I type, so I'm sure they get the translation wrong every now and again as well.
It's really not so much necromancy as it is empathy. Actually many things are based in empathy..Staying on course, If you are (un)lucky enough to have trained your will and emotion to be able to feel anothers pain, you will more acutely understand what I mean by dealing indirectly with the source of the shade (or energy, for "discussion" sake;)This level of interaction allows simply for a slighly more genuine shadow of said creature. One that would be just that much harder to tell real from fake.( And to be clear we are talking about telling the difference between, say, having the feeling a spider was really close to your leg, or having the feeling that a person was really close to your leg.).... It is okay if you don't understand where that goes, but if you honestly dont, then this is aparently not the place, nor the time for you. It would be a waste of time reading the third portion of this post, which should post by this time tomorrow.
What you are describing is not quite a thought form, but possibly a symptom of a thought form. I explain a great deal on Thought Forms and Servitors here:
I have issues with the term "Shadow magic" and though the term shade has often been used in the past to refer to the ghost or residual energy of the deceased, and I see where you're going with the concept here, I think it is important to expand upon a few things.
Thought forms are not only created by the lingering thoughts of the dead, but by grouped, focused, belief and strong emotion in general. They are rarely self-sustaining, as the intensity of the emotion is rarely enough for them to be created as anything more than a brief spurt of activity. Thus "hauntings" that are not true hauntings, but the result of negative conflicts between members of a household.
Further, rarely will the energy of a particular spirit linger for no reason. The spider you crushed, for example, has no reason to remain. I find it more likely that the thought-form/shade/impression you perceived was not the result of the spider itself, but the result of you thinking that killing an animal with your staff should have an impact on your magic.
Unless those details you held back intentionally sought such a thing, though the argument might still be made depending on circumstances.
I'd also like to clear up that those spirits, thought forms, etc. that exist astrally typically exist ethereally as well. The Ethereal is merely an expression of energy closer to the physical - thus the weight and heaviness that some people sometimes feel when attempting to astral project - whereas the astral is a bit free of such constraints.
While light/darkness certainly exist within the astral and the like, it does not exist as we know it in earthly terms. It does not behave in the same ways, and is more a perception than a cold hard fact. Light in the astral, like all things, is merely our mind interpreting what it is we are viewing and providing us with an image so that we can understand what we experience.
As there is no true light within ethereal/astral realms, there is then no true shadow, and thus no copies born of them. Thus one must create them one's self, or one is simply binding the initial entity one encounters through misconception. Thought-forms, lesser spirits, etc. rarely have "copies" unless they are potent enough to create their own thought forms, servitors, and the like. In which case stealing their thought form, servitor, etc. for your own purposes may be somewhat impolite.
Yes, Awake. I understand what you mean by the intensity of the emotion only being enough to sustain a single thought/activity. And again, this is merely a way to interperate what I have come to learn as shade "shadow magic". And lol... I know that. The point I was making about my staff was really just an example. I know quite well it was me who put the impression into my staff. I also know free spirits rarely, if ever, have such strong emotions, one direction or another, so as to create a lingering thought(form). The point in that was to spark your own personal mental process into filling in the blank, as it were. No harm done, except to the spider. This was really for a number of reasons, one being my curiosity to see if I could recall a mental "labelling of energy".. Something that could be recalled subconsciously without direct effort from me. The other is the one mentioned moments ago. This is also where shade comes into the means to sustain said thought(form) in the desired state. This is not the third post..I must run off to work. :(
